“If you know land knowledge, then […] you're never, ever short of anything”: Traditional Land Use by the Métis People of Île-à-la-Crosse, SK

The research project includes conducting oral interviews and using Historical Geographic Information Systems (HGIS) to map Métis harvesting practices and traditional place names to aid in industry negotiations, education curriculum and the 250th anniversary of Île-à-la-Crosse. As of September, students have 21 maps created from 5 interviews. The maps demonstrate land use activities within an area of approximately 110,000km.

Community Partner: A La Baie Métis Local #21 and Sakitawak Development Corporation in Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan.

Co-Lab Students: Aqsa Hussain and Jessica Jack

This multi-year project started in June 2024 uses archival, secondary, and oral history research to explore the human and environmental histories that have shaped the landscape of the UNESCO site of Redberry. Currently, the Co-Lab students are creating an archival database of historical sources and scholarly resources regarding the region. Topics of these records include agriculture, gardening, hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, homesteading, and outdoor sport and recreational activities. The research team will utilize Historical Geographical Information Systems (HGIS) technologies to map place–based stories of the region. The records collected through this preliminary research will support ongoing research, education, and interpretation activities within the Redberry Lake Biosphere Region. By May of 2025, the aim is to begin collecting oral narratives of Indigenous and settler land use in the RLBR.

Community Partner: Redberry Lake Biosphere Region 

Co-Lab Student: Sara Pilon

The goal of the project was to begin the creation of a digital archive for the organization through the organization and digitization of the roughly 3,000 photos they have dating from 1960 to 2005.  The archive created the summer of 2024 is only the beginning of a digital archive charting the United Way’s history in Saskatoon. This project has set the groundwork to continue adding to this archive to further digitize, organize, and document the history in an accessible long-term way.

Community Partner: The United Way of Saskatoon and Area

Co-Lab Student: Wren Dahl

This project documents, celebrates, and charts the history of the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre (SFBLC) over the past 40 years through archival research and oral history methodologies to create short video documentaries capturing the experiences of past employees and volunteers sharing SFBLC history.

Community Partner: Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre

Co-Lab Student: Elizabeth Martens

This work is part of a larger project on documenting settler movement and impact in Saskatchewan. Students did trips to the Provincial Archives of Sasaktchewan to digitize the Township Registers and worked to transcribe the historical homestead records that were collected. 

Co-Lab Students: Sarah Trevor and Emma Wintermute